As some of you have reported, we've had some challenges with getting pictures to post successfully at the blog. So, for this chapter I'm trying something new. There will be link at the end of the story to related pictures, posted in a "web album" on the Picasa site. We can share more pics, as there is a limit here on the blog, and you can also view them in a full-screen slideshow if you want.
We had a good stay in San Carlos. We spent Monday at one of the deserted beaches shown in a previous entry. It was our first try at using John's scooter at the beach. It was great, as long as we avoided the deep, soft sand. We've concluded San Carlos is a good place to "decompress" after crossing the border. English is commonly spoken, there isn't much traffic or crowds, and the campground is nice. There are a lot of people who stay there for the winter but after 4 full days, we were ready to move on.
Our drive from San Carlos to Los Mochis slower than expected, taking about 6 hours instead of the expected four. We went through many small 'villages' (poblados) where traffic slows due to vehicle and pedestrian congestion and topes, which are Mexican speed bumps. These speed bumps are VERY common and tall. John usually slows to about 5 mph to go over one. But there is never just one...they are usually in sets, sometimes as many as 10 to get vehicle traffic to slow down. But the scenery was interesting especially as we entered into the state of Sinaloa and neared Los Mochis as the area is the start of a very large agricultural region. It reminded us of California's San Juaquin Valley.
Luckily I had chatted with another RVer in San Carlos who had previously visited the Los Mochis campground and he gave me good advice. Mexican towns have what are called "lateral" roads along most major city streets. The lateral is as it sounds, a lane or two that runs parallel to the main street, divided from the main lanes by a small curb or barrier. A driver enters the lateral before reaching his destination so as not to slow traffic in the main road. It's also very good to be in the lateral when you're looking for something. The campground is only about 1 mile off the highway and he had explained that when we took the exit we would need to get into the lateral ASAP as the campground came up very fast and it would be a little challenging to turn around if we missed it. Upon our approach we discovered the first entry to the lateral is also the location a popular bus stop. But we successfully got around the congestion and arrived. We knew from our guide book that the campground would be a little "rough" as far as facilities, and it was. While it has full hookups we only used the electricity as we'd emptied our holding tanks and filled up the fresh water in San Carlos. To our surprise John was able to find a Wi-Fi signal from what we assumed was a nearby business. Before the trip John purchased a signal amplifier antenna and we've been very pleased with how it improves reception of nearby signals but also picks up signals we'd never find without it.
OK, let's look at a few pictures of the Los Mochis campground and see how this new method works!
http://picasaweb.google.com/dealegria1961/LosMochisCampground?authkey=7kQ9MGfO83Y#
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